Cafe boat and Dutch barge sink in Bristol Harbour

A floating cafe boat and a second boat have sunk overnight in Bristol Harbour.

The Greenshank cafe boat and a Dutch barge called the Robert H were moored near the SS Great Britain and the Matthew docking area.

Their owner Luke Dunstan said he was informed by police at 04:30 BST.

He said: "We obviously ran down here as quickly as we could to see what's happened but it was too late, the boat was on the bottom. Actually there were two boats there."

Mr Dunstan is trying to organise how to retrieve the boats.

"We've got a major salvage operation on our hands and it's going to be a serious headache," he said.

"There's been a catastrophic failure of some kind.

"Either the water has come in from the top or from the bottom. I'm not too sure at the moment, it's only speculation."

The Greenshank was built in 1936 and Mr Dunstan bought it in 2012. It opened as a cafe bar in 2017 and had been undergoing refurbishment more recently.

The Robert H was used as a floating terrace for tables.

Mr Dunstan said a crane might be needed to recover the boats.

"We've got to dry it out and start thinking about what we're going to do next," he said.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: "The Harbour Authority has been made aware of this incident and is working with the owners of the boats to ensure the safety of other water users and the harbour itself is maintained.

"Underwater surveys are likely to begin tomorrow to establish the position and condition of the vessels.

"This will allow plans for their salvage and removal to be made in order for an investigation on the circumstances of their sinking to proceed.''

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